The Taoiseach has told the Dáil that the Tánaiste has recently received correspondence from members of An Garda Síochána under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.
Enda Kenny said the correspondence is being considered, but would not go into detail about who made the disclosures or the nature of the allegations contained.
He was responding to a question from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who asked the Taoiseach if he had read a report in the Irish Examiner about "whistleblowers being strategically undermined and under attack, both their personal reputations and their professional reputations, at the instigation of senior garda management".
Mr Martin said disclosures had now reportedly been made by a senior garda that "essentially, this campaign involved dissemination of texts across a range of gardaí, and the opening of an intelligence file on the whistleblowers, undermining the whistleblowers in relation to their character, in essence a character assassination attack, and that this was organised and that people who engaged in it were engaging in it under instruction".
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Mr Martin said that if the allegations are true they are of "the greatest import" and should be investigated at high level, beyond a GSOC probe.
Mr Kenny said he was aware of media reports on the allegations.
He said Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald had received correspondence on the issue and would consider how best to proceed and take whatever action may be deemed appropriate.
He said that given the confidentiality provisions of the act, the Dáil could not go into the details of the disclosures or who had made them at this time.
The Taoiseach said Ms Fitzgerald had referred the issue of "what should be best practice in An Garda Síochána, relating to how whistleblowers are dealt with" to the Policing Authority, which he said would be reporting the matter when it concludes its own work.
Mr Martin put it to the Taoiseach that while there was a protected disclosure process, the activity outlined in this instance went beyond that process.
He repeated his view the activity disclosed called for a wider approach.
However, the Taoiseach said confidentiality was fundamental and he repeated that the Tánaiste had referred how whistleblowers are treated to the Policing Authority.
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